The Essential Oil of Coleus Amboinicus Loureiro Chemical Composition and Evaluation of Insect Anti-Feedant Effects El Aceite
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CIENCIA 11(2), 113-118, 2003 Maracaibo, Venezuela The essential oil of Coleus amboinicus Loureiro chemical composition and evaluation of insect anti-feedant effects Dilexa Valera1, Roimar Rivas1, Jorge Luis Avila2, Lianne Aubert2, Miguel Alonso-Amelot2 and Alfredo Usubillaga1* 1Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. 2 Grupo de Química Ecológica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela Recibido: 12-09-02 Aceptado: 30-05-03 Abstract The chemical composition of the essential oil of Coleus amboinicus Loureiro, an aromatic plant with ethnobotanical uses, has been analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and its insect antifeedant properties examined using Sitophilus oryzae and Tribo- lium castaneum, two important stored grain insect pests. Two samples were collected, one at Rancherías (1.100 meters above sea level) and at the Medicinal Plants Garden, Faculty of Phar- macy, Mérida (1400 m.a.s.l.). Carvacrol and p-cymene were found to compose most of the volatile material, 74.5% (Mérida) and 74.1% (Rancherías). The oil from Mérida, was found to contain a larger proportion of carvacrol (64.7%) and sesquiterpenes (17.4%) than the oil from Rancherias (55.3% and 10.5%). On the other hand the oil from Rancherías was richer in p-cymene (18.8% against 9.8%) and monoterpenes. The essential oil in large dosage (1.25%) on hardened flour feeding disks was found unable to induce any negative response in the feeding behavior of the test insects, nor was any mortality recorded within the 60 h of exposure of the bioassays. Key word: Coleus amboinicus Loureiro; essential oil; carvacrol; p-cymene, Tribolium Castaneum; Sitophilus oryzae. El aceite esencial del Coleus amboinicus Loureiro composición química y evaluación de sus efectos anti-alimentarios en insectos Resumen La composición química del aceite esencial de Coleus amboinicus Loureiro, una planta aromática con usos etnobotánicos, ha sido analizada mediante cromatografía de gases acopla- da con espectrometría de masas, así como sus propiedades antialimentarias contra los coleóp- teros Sitophilus oryzae y Tribolium castaneum, dos insectos plaga de importancia en los cerea- les. Se colectaron dos muestras, una en Rancherías (1100 m.s.n.m.) y otra en el Jardín de Plan- tas Medicinales de la Facultad de Farmacia en Mérida (1400 m.s.n.m.). Se encontró que el Car- vacrol y el p-cymene constituían la porción mayoritaria del aceite esencial, 74,5% (Mérida) y 74,1% (Rancherías). El aceite proveniente de Mérida posee una mayor proporción de carvacrol * Autor para la correspondencia. E-mail: [email protected] Scientific Journal from the Experimental Faculty of Sciences, at La Universidad del Zulia, Volume 11 Nº 2, April-June 2003 114 The essential oil of Coleus amboinicus Loureiro (64,7%) y sesquiterpenos (17,4%) que el aceite de Rancherías (55,3% y 10,5%). Por otra parte el aceite proveniente de Rancherías es más rico en p-cimeno (18,8% vs 9,8%) y monoterpenos. Este aceite esencial en altas dosis (1,25%) sobre discos endurecidos de harina no fue capaz de inducir respuesta negativa alguna en el comportamiento alimentario de los insectos de prueba, así como tampoco hubo mortalidad durante las 60 horas de exposición que duraron los bioen- sayos. Palabras clave: Aceite esencial; carvacrol; Coleus amboinicus Loureiro; p-cymene; Sitophilus oryzae; Tribolium castaneum. Introduction C. amboinicus and to test its anti-feedant properties on Tribolium castaneum and Sito- Coleus amboinicus Lour (Lamiaceae), philus oryzae two important stored grain in- popularly known as “Orégano orejón”, is an sect pests. aromatic shrub widely distributed in Vene- zuela. It is used to treat colds and cough as Materials and Methods well as arthritic inflammations (1). Accord- ing to the Missouri Botanical Gardens the Plant Material name Plectranthus amboinicus is a synonym of C. amboinicus. Its insect repellent proper- Leaves of C. amboinicus were collected ties have been tested (2) and at least another at Rancherías, Campo Elías Municipality, member of the Coleus genus, C. aromaticus, Mérida State, at 1.200 meters above sea has been found to cause reduction in egg level and at the Medicinal Plants Garden laying capacity, retard in adult emergence (1400 m. asl), Faculty of Pharmacy, Univer- and weight loss in the pulse beetle Calloso- sity of Los Andes, Merida. Voucher speci- bruchus maculatus F (3). A moderate allelo- mens (A.Usubillaga 24a and 24b) have been pahic effect of the powdered leaves of C. am- deposited at the MERF Herbarium, Faculty boinicus against the water hyacinth is also of Pharmacy; University of Los Andes. on record (4). Studies performed in India demonstrated the “fungistatic” properties of Insects the essential oil of this plant (5), but studies Malathion-resistant strain of red flour on its essential oil composition have not beetles Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) from a been reported. Brieskorn and Riedel (6) iso- 13-year old collection at Grupo de Química lated eight triterpenic acids from the leaves Ecológica, was cultivated in ½ liter glass jars of C. amboinicus and later they reported the using a mixture of whole wheat flour and isolation of six flavones, one flavanone and wheat germ (5%) as growth medium at 28 ± one flavonolol (7). No further phytochemical 1°C. Rice weevils Sitophilus oryzae (L.) from studies of this plant have been reported but a 15 year old collection of the same labora- a review (8) describes the components and tory were grown in ½ liter glass jars in whole medicinal importance of plants belonging to wheat, barley or maize grains from local different Coleus species. The essential oil of suppliers. C. aromaticus has been studied by Baslas et al (9) and plectrin, an aphid antifeedant Extraction of the oil and measurement diterpene has been isolated from Plectran- of its physical constants thus barbatus (10). Considering the record The plant material (1.35 Kg and 1.1 Kg of some Coleus species, it was decided to respectively) was cut and hydrodistilled in a study the composition of the essential oil of Clevenger-type apparatus for 3 h yielding a Scientific Journal from the Experimental Faculty of Sciences, at La Universidad del Zulia, Volume 11 Nº 2, April-June 2003 D. Valera et al. / Ciencia Vol. 11, Nº 2 (2003) 113-118 115 colorless oil. The oil was dried over anhy- Bioassays drous sodium sulfate and stored under ni- Thin 0.5 cm2 hardened flour disks were trogen at 4°- 6°C. Optical rotations were prepared from a mixture of wheat flour and measured in a Jasco DIP 370 electropolari- water with 2% butter added to prevent meter at 23°C; density with a picnometer cracking followed by mild heating (40°C) for and refractive index with an Abbe refracto- 1 h in a ventilated oven. Treatment disks meter at 25°C. were dosaged with 20 µL solutions of essen- tial oil of C. amboinicus in acetone with the Analysis aid of a microsyringe to yield 500 µg of sol- 2 GC analyses were performed using a ute per cm of flour disk (1.25% w/w). Con- Perkin-Elmer AutoSystem gas chroma- trol disks were dosaged with pure acetone. tograph equipped with FID detector and data Treatment and control feed were ventilated handling system. A 5% phenylmethyl polysi- under mild heating until all traces of solvent loxane fused-silica column (HP-5, 30 m, 0.25 had been removed. Disks and insects were mm i.d., film thickness 0.25 µm) was used. weighted before and after bioassays. For one Column oven temperature was programmed way assay, ten unsexed 7 -12 day old adult from 60 to 200°C at 4°C/min, subsequently insects were placed ina8cmPetri dish con- at 8°C/min up to 280°C. The injector and de- taining one treated disk and placed in the tector temperatures were 200°C and 280°C, dark for 60 h, after which the remaining food respectively. The carrier gas was helium at was removed and weighted. There were five 0.8 mL/min. The samples (1.0 µL) were in- replicates per experiment. From the weight jected using a split ratio of 1:100. Retention change in insect and disk masses the follow- indices were calculated relative to C8-C24 al- ing parameters were calculated (13): feeding kanes. The percentage composition of the preference index Fi, amount of disk and oils were calculated by the normalization compound devoured, insect mass gained or method from the GC peak areas. lost during feeding, and feed conversion effi- ciency into biomass (ECI). For comparison of GC-MS analysis was carried out on a the means the Kurkal-Wallis and Tuckey Model 5973 Hewlett Packard GC-MS sys- non parametric tests (P= 0.001) were em- tem fitted with a HP-5MS fused-silica col- ployed using Statistix V 4.0 from Analytical umn (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., film thickness Software Inc., Minneapolis, Minesota. 0.25 µm). Oven temperature program was the same used for the HP-5 column for GC analysis; the transfer line temperature Results and Discussion was held at 280°C; source temperature, Table 1 presents density, optical rota- 230°C; quadrupole temperature, 150°C; tion, refractive indices, and essential oil carrier gas, helium, adjusted to a linear ve- yields obtained from leaves of C. amboinicus locity of 34 m/s; ionization energy, 70 eV; collected at Rancherías and at the Faculty of scan range, 10–500 amu; 2.2 scans/s. Pharmacy, Mérida. Samples (1.0 µL) were injected as 2% solu- tions of the oils in n-heptane. A Hewlett The results of the analyses of the vola- Packard ALS injector was used with split tile components from the leaves of C.